Home
by ReadingRed
Summary: Sequel to In My Heart. Booth and Bones deal with family troubles and a few unexpected guests. Lots of Parker.
1. Falling Apart

**This story is a sequel to In My Heart so you might want to read that one first.**

**Both this story and In My Heart have a different time line than the show. Bones and Booth married when Parker was four, so that would mean sometime in season one or two. After a few months of marriage Booth had to go to war. Bones gets custody of Parker and I'll go into that more in this fic. He comes back when Parker is five which would be somewhere in between seasons two and three. Like I said it is an alternate universe story so I'm going to be pulling cases I like from different seasons regardless of when they really happened. If you don't like it just don't read it, it's not that big of a deal. **

**There will be a few new characters, and a few old ones we haven't seen in a while**

**Now having said all that, let's get on with the story.**

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter One: Falling Apart

"Parker, could you go get the mail for me?" Bones asked her step son.

"Mommma, I'm in the middle of my game." Parker yelled from the living room, dragging out the mama a few extra syllables to show how much this was inconveniencing him.

"Now please Parker." Bones was unmoved by the boys plea.

"Awe man. Fine I'll do it, just don't ever say I didn't do anything for you." Parker said with a grin as he walked toward her. On his way past her to the front door Bones pulled him into a hug and kissed the top of his head. "Thanks Park."

"Yeah yeah, I know." The boy said with a wave of his hand on his way out the door.

"Hey Bones you handled that well. He listens better to you than he does to me." Booth lamented from where he stood in the hallway adjacent to the kitchen. Bones frowned at Booth's words.

"Booth you knew it would be like this when you came back. He's just more used to me right now. It's like how he was with me when we first got married. Just give him time to adjust, he'll come around. He loves you."

"I know. I guess when I was over there I just had this idea that when I finally came home it would be just like it was before I left you know? And then I got back and it's like the world moved on without me." Booth looked so depressed when he said those words. Bones walked over and gave him a hug, it was a small gesture but she didn't know what else to do to try and ease his pain. Then she tried to change the subject.

"Are kids his age supposed to be that sarcastic?" Bones mumbled into his chest. It worked because Booth started to laugh; it was a sound that Bones hadn't heard enough of in the days since he got back.

"I don't know Bones." He said with a grin. Parker came rushing in waving a manila envelope.

"Bones! Looket here! You gots a letter and it's BIG!" When Parker reached Booth and Bones he thrust the letter into Bones' hands. He dropped the rest of the mail on the island in the center of the kitchen and leaned in closer to see the letter better.

"What's the letter Bones?" Booth asked. He too was curious to the contents of the envelope.

"I do not know. I wasn't expecting anything." Bones flipped the envelope over to look at the return address.

"Law Offices of Turner and Boyd?" She mumbled trying to remember any reason why they would have to get in contact with her. It wasn't the name of her lawyers' office and she couldn't recall any dealing with this particular office in the past. For lack of a better phrase, Bones was stumped. Bones opened the envelope and pulled out the contents. Reading the first few paragraphs quickly she then looked up at her husband.

"We need to talk." She told him while at the same time trying to keep her face from revealing too much. Booth nodded his head then looked down at Parker.

"Hey bud why don't you go finish up your game? It's probably missing you by now."

"But daddy, what's in the letter? I wanna know." Parker whined.

"Now Parker." Booth was firm and Parker didn't like it. He turned and looked at Bones, searching for an ally.

"Mama?" Parker looked up at her with a sad face. He looked like they were punishing him, not telling him to go play with his favorite toy. Sometimes she just didn't understand children. Later she would realize that he felt like he had no say in his life and that with all the changes he had went though in the previous couple of days he was just trying to find a balance in his life.

"Go play Parker." She hadn't thought it possible but his face fell even farther. His eyes started tearing up and instead of going to the living room to play he turned and ran down the hall and into his bedroom. She didn't know what to do. Parker didn't act like this often so she hadn't had much practice at working through a situation like it. She looked to Booth for help.

"What do I do now?" She asked.

"Give him a minute to calm down and then go talk to him. Comfort him. Let him know you'll always be here for him."

"Ok but we still need to talk. I'll go make sure Parker's feeling better. Will you meet me in our room so we can talk?"

"I'll be there, don't worry. Just go fix Parker." He said with a small smile. Bones nodded, as she neared Booth she gave him quick hug and kiss.

"It'll get easier Booth, I know it will."

It didn't take long to calm Parker; all he need was a few kind words and a hug. Soon Bones was in the master bedroom. She found Booth there pacing. She should've known he would assume the worst. He had probably spent all this time wondering what bad news could possibly be in the envelope.

"Sit down, this might take awhile." Bones said.

"Bones, come on. You're starting to worry me. What's going on?" Booth had a worried look on his face and Bones could tell that she needed to start explaining fast before he got any more worried.

"I'll try and get to the point as soon as I can. I'm not sure how to start, so I'll just start at the beginning." Bones was so nervous she was pacing, looking anywhere but at Booth's face. "When I was in college my roommate and I became really good friends. Her name was Grace and her past was similar to mine. She had also lost her parents at a young age, but she had no other family, and at the time I didn't know where Russ was so we became each others' family. She was in school to be an anthropologist too just not a forensic anthropologist. We both went on to get our doctorates from the same university and continued to be friends after we left school. About a year after she married her husband they started to try for a baby. It wasn't working so they went to a fertility specialist and found out that Grace was infertile. She couldn't have a child of her own but with the help of donated eggs she could still have a baby. They asked me if I would donate."

Booth stood and wrapped his arms around Bones trying to calm her. "What did you say when they asked?"

"I.. I said…"

"Mama Bones!" Parker's cry came from the living room and Bones was out of her husband's arms and on her way to the child immediately. She found him standing in the kitchen crying.

"Parker, Parker what's wrong?" Bones asked franticly. Kneeling in front of the child with her hands on his shoulders she quickly examined him and finding no injuries she calmed slightly.

"I tho… hiccup…thought you… left me" Parker cried throwing himself into her arms. Bones tightened her hold on the boy pulling him closer to her body. He must've come out of his bedroom to look for her and when he didn't see her gotten scared.

"Parker I would never leave you, remember like we just talked about? Me and Daddy are always going to be here for you. It's ok Parker, don't cry I'm here." Bones didn't know what to do. She looked around and then saw Booth. He looked almost as bad as Parker. She waved him over and then stood with Parker in her arms. Booth was soon at her side and she pulled him into the hug.

"Parker, it's ok, we're all here, and we're all going to be fine."


	2. Losing Her

**Assuming Brennan went to college right after high school at age 18 she would finish with a bachelors degree after four years at age 22, and then 2 to 3 years more to get a masters, age 24/25 and depending on how many years it took her to write her dissertation up to five more years to earn her doctorate, she would be about 28/29/30 when all her schooling is done unless she finished early. In season 4 she is 33 years old. For the purposes of this story I am going on the assumption that she finished a little early and earned her Doctorate at age 28, and her friend asked her to donate when she was 29. **

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Two: Losing Her

Booth and Brennan had just put Parker to bed for the night. After his breakdown earlier in the day the boy was tired and went to sleep without a fuss.

"Bones we still have to talk about what you were telling me earlier. You never told me what your answer was." They were both in the hallway outside of Parkers room. Booth had his hand on her shoulder trying to be supportive. She nodded.

"Not here though, let's talk in the living room." Booth followed her and they both sat on the sofa. Her took her hand in his and waited for her to begin to speak.

"When they asked me to donate, it really wasn't a big deal. At the time I was not planning on ever having a child myself and yet I did not want my family tree to end with me. It seemed like the perfect solution. I would give my egg to someone else thus continuing my family line, and a friend of mine would get what they wanted, a baby."

She looked at Booth to try and gauge his reaction to this news. He was calm, like he understood. Bones then started talking again.

"Grace and her husband John both said that I would be able to see the child as often or as little as I'd like. They said that they would leave it up to me if I wanted to play any part in the baby's life. I did not want to have my own baby and yet I could not imagine never seeing this child. I knew that I had to be able to see the baby at least a few times or I would spend my life wondering what it looked like or if he or she enjoyed science like I do. Everything went well, I donated and nine months later they had a baby."

"They named her Harper Joy, she was a beautiful baby. I saw her about once a month. I would go to their house and spend time with her or take her to mueseums, I was acting more like a aunt than anything else. If I had payed attention I would've notice Grace and I drifting apart. We were both focusing more on other things and our friendship was just left to the way side. Maybe if I had been a better friend to her she would not have done what she did."

"Anyway, I was splitting my time between work, study, and Harper and when Harper was two Grace asked me if I would consider donating again so Harper could have a younger sibling. At the time I thought everything went so well the first time so I didn't hesitate. I said yes. I donated and everything was ok until Grace was about five months along. I was visiting them at their home one day and playing with Harper. She called me 'mommy' Grace heard and got very mad. Harper wasn't very old, and I know now that children that age often call other adults 'mommy' or 'daddy' but at the time I didn't so I was just as shocked as Grace. She rushed over, picked Harper up and told me to get out. She said that I could never see Harper again, that she didn't want me anywhere near her baby. I didn't have a choice, I left and I haven't seen any of them since. Losing her, it broke my heart but I had no say in the matter, legally I have no rights to either child. I don't even know if the second baby was a boy or a girl."

At this last omission Brennan started to cry. Booth pulled her to him and cradled her in his arms. He could not imagine having a child, let alone two, that he never got to see, even when Parker was little and living with his biological mother he was able to see the boy once or twice a week.

"Bones I am so sorry that this all happened to you. Don't blame yourself. I don't care how smart you are, you can't see the future. You couldn't have stopped her no matter how much time you devoted to your friendship. But what does it have to do with the papers you received?"

Bones looked up at Booth, tears in her eyes and she said "Grace and John, they died. Grace left both of the children to me in her will. I get to see the children." Bones was crying. A part of her had been hoping that Grace would change her mind and let her see the children. At first being around Parker made it so much worse. It seemed like every time Parker would do something her mind would flash to Harper and the baby and wonder if they liked doing the same sort of activities.

"Bones you don't just get to see them; you get them for keeps." Booth said wiping away the tears on her face.


	3. Why'd You Have to Wait?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Three: Why'd You Have to Wait?

"I don't know what that means Booth."

"It means you get to keep them forever Bones." Brennan tightened her hold around Booth and laid her head on his shoulder.

"I don't even know them Booth. What if they don't like me? I haven't seen Harper since she was two years old. She won't remember me, and the younger child, I don't know anything about. How are we going to do this Booth? What will Parker say? How is going to feel about having two new younger siblings? He's just now getting used to having you back in his life, what if he doesn't like having the children come live here?"

Lifting her head so he could look her in the eyes Booth answered "They will like you Bones, Parker loves you and they will too. We'll raise them just like we raise Parker. One day at a time. Parker will be ecstatic, he's always wanted a younger sibling and now he'll have two. Believe me, he'll be happy. Now anything else worrying you or can we start working on getting the kids home?"

"Let's bring them home."

"It's a little late now. The law office will be closed by now but we can get the house ready for them." Bones knew that he was trying to keep her busy to try and distract her from other things and she was happy that he cared enough to try.

"We can give them the office and move all the furniture that is in there to the living room for now, at least until we can find somewhere else for it all. We don't need a home office anyway; we both have one at work." Booth smiled at her suggestion.

"That's a great idea Bones."

Booth and Bones moved the two desks, chairs, and other assorted items that had somehow ended up in the office out into the living room. They had done all they could for the night because neither wanted to leave Parker alone to go out and buy new stuff, they both felt it could wait until the morning. They decided that they would take Parker with them when they went shopping for the children to help Parker feel involved. Booth and Bones were sitting on the sofa watching TV when Booth started asking questions.

"Hey Bones? Tell me about Harper. What was she like the last time you saw her?"

Bones smiled happy that he was interested. "She is beautiful and so smart, blond hair, bright blue eyes and a wonderful smile. She is very intelligent, when she was just two she could count to a hundred, she knew all the colors and the alphabet. I even taught her the names of some of the bones." Brennan said with a laugh. Booth watched her face light up as she talked about the little girl she hadn't seen in so long. It was the same way she looked when she talked about Parker.

"What about the other child? Did those papers you got say anything about that kid? Do you know if it is a boy or a girl?"

"I don't know, I just read the first part, just enough to know what had happened." Bones stood up and went and found the papers. She brought them back to where she had been sitting and started to look over them. When she had finished with a page she would pass it to Booth so he could read it too. Once they were both done reading and had found out all the information there was available they started talking.

"So from what I could gather, you can go get the girls whenever you like. There'll be a court hearing and a few home visits to make sure everything is ok and then you can keep them."

"Are you ok with this Booth? They aren't your children biologically. Will you still want to be their Daddy?"

"Bones do you consider Parker your son?"

"Of course Booth! I love him."

"Well there's your answer. I'll love them and cherish them and treat them they same as I treat Parker." Bones smiled and leaned in to kiss Booth.

"Thank you Booth."

"There's nothing to thank me for. I always wanted a big family and now I'm getting one. I should be thanking you."

"Do you really think Parker will be happy getting two new sisters?"

"I promise Bones, he'll love Harper and Ember. Three kids Temperance." Booth said grinning.

"Three kids."

The next day started bright and early with Parker coming into his parents' room and jumping on the bed.

"Wake up, it's Sunday! Family day. Come on! Wake up!" Parker continued to jump and great progressively louder and his parents pretended to be asleep. All of a sudden Booth jolted up into a sitting position and grabbed Parker.

"Rawr, I got you!" Booth growled while tickling Parker. The boy started laughing hysterically and started to beg Brennan's help.

"Mama Bones, help meeeeee." Parker begged. The plea backfired though because Brennan then started to tickle him.

"St…Stop! I'm gonna pee!" Parker shouted. Immediately his parents stopped the tickle torture.

"Just kidding." Parker laughed. The small family then laid back and rested for a moment. Brennan on one side of the bed, Parker next to her, and Booth on the other side of him. Booth looked over Parkers head and found that his wife was doing the same thing. Silently he mouthed to her "now?" asking whether or not now would be a good time to tell Parker about the two new additions to their family. She nodded and he began to think of the best way to break the news to the boy. After a minute he decided just to try and explain what was happening in a way Parker could understand.

"Hey Park? You know how your friend Samuel and his family adopted Jamie a while back?" Waiting for the boys nod he continued. "Well we're kinda going to do something like that, only a little different." He paused seeing the little boy's confused face.

"Ugh Bones I'm not explaining this very well. You want to try?" Booth looked to his wife across the bed. She nodded and then patted her lap, motioning for Parker to come sit on her lap. The little boy crawled over and climbed on his mother's lap.

"Parker a long time ago when you were just a baby and before I met your Daddy I had a friend who needed help. Her name was Grace and she really, really wanted a baby, but her body didn't have all the right stuff, so she asked me for help. I wanted to help so I said yes. I gave her a little bit of myself, the part that it takes to make a baby, and she used it to make a baby with her husband. We did this twice and they had two little babies, only now Grace and her husband John died and there is no one to take care of those two children. Because it was a part of me that helped make them, the mommy that raised them decided that they should come live with me if anything happened to her and her husband. Do you understand?"

"Kinda. So two new babies are coming?"

"Well yes, they're coming soon, but they aren't babies anymore. Harper is four so she's just a little bit younger than you, and Ember is two."

"Ugh, why could they be boys?" Parker lamented. Booth and Bones just laughed.

"Are you ok with this Bub?" Booth asked.

"Yeah Daddy, I think it's cool, as long as the girls are nice. I can be a good big brother like Uncle Russ was to Mama."

"I know you will be Parker." Bones said before leaning down placing a kiss on the top of Parker's head. The small family laid in the bed, enjoying some of the last moments they would spend as a family of three before their brood would expand to five.

"Hey mama, when are they gonna get here?" parker asked breaking the silence.

"Soon baby, as soon as possible." Bones said placing another kiss on the top of Parkers head, happy the boy was eager to meet his sisters.

"Why'd you have to wait to go get them?"

"That's just the way it works bub. We'll be a family soon. Just be patient." Booth told the boy. Parker nodded in understanding before settling back down in the bed.

"We'll be a family soon." Bones echoed almost to herself.


	4. No Way to Know

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Four: No Way to Know

The Booth-Brennan family was eating breakfast but none of them were thinking about food. All three of their minds were occupied with thoughts of two little girls.

"Mama, where are Harper and Ember gonna sleep?" Parker asked across the kitchen table.

"We're going to make the office into their new bedroom. In fact we were going to go shopping for them later on in the day. Would you like to come?" Brennan asked, she knew that he would say yes, after all he was just as excited as she and Booth were, but giving him the choice made him feel more in control of his life.

"Yes! We can make it like Cars, and have Lighting McQueen, and Mater!" Parker exclaimed, getting into the idea of making the girls room fun for them.

"I don't know if the girls will like that Park. Why don't we wait and see what they have at the store before we get to set on one idea." Booth interjected.

"But Mama there's no way to know what they'll like" Parker sighed slouching down in his seat.

The family finished their meal and was soon on their way to the store to buy the essentials for two little girls. They decided to go to Babies R Us, so hopefully they would only have to go to one store. When they arrived they found the parking lot nearly empty.

"At least we won't have to deal with long lines." Booth joked. The family climbed out of the car and Parker raced ahead to the store.

"Parker! Slow down; wait for us to cross the street please."

"Awe mom. Hurry up. We gotta go get their stuff." Parker said tapping his foot impatiently.

They entered the store and decided that it would work out better if they went together instead of splitting up and each going to look for what they thought the girls would need. By going to together they could do a better job of picking items with a consistent theme.

"I think we should get the beds and bedding first then we can find the other stuff to match." Brennan said.

"Sounds good by me." Booth agreed. They found the bedding department quickly and walked around looking for something that peaked their interest. Booth pointed out a bright pink set with a heart print, but Parker and Bones didn't like it. Bones liked a black and white set with swirls; Booth said it looked too old for a child's bedroom. They were beginning to think they might never find a set they both liked when Parker came up to them carrying a blanket. It was light blue, green, and white. More unisex then boy or girl, with an ocean theme and little cartoon sea creatures that adorned the blanket. It was perfect.

"That's great Parker. Can you show me where you got it from?" Booth asked.

"Yup." Parker said with a smile, happy that they both liked his choice for the room. He turned and quickly walked to where he had found the blanket. There was a display set up, complete with everything for a young child's room, all except a blanket for a bed. No wonder Parker had only brought them a blanket and not a package with a blanket inside. He had taken the blanket off the display. The toddler bed was a dark cherry wood stain, and the sheet's that came with the blanket were white with cartoon sea creatures on them. All three agreed that this set was perfect for the girls and Booth went to find a sales associate who could help them purchase everything they needed. Brennan looked around a little bit longer for more to add to Harper's side of the room. She found a similar set made for an older child that matched what they had chosen for Ember but at the same time was slightly different so each child would have their own.

"Parker, do you think the girls will like these?"

"Yeah Mama, they're cool. Kinda like Nemo but different." Parker said looking up at her with a grin.

Once Booth returned with the salesman, they told him that they wanted the complete set of both the toddler bedding and the twin size bedding that Brennan had found. They bought a toddler bed for Ember and a twin size bed for Harper. Harper's was white and came with two side tables; one that's top was shaped like the bow of a boat and one was just square. Ember's bed was dark cherry and came with a small dresser. They bought a lamp for each girl that went with the theme of the room and a dresser for Harper. Because they were spending so much money at the store, the manager gave them wall appliqués and a rug for free. They also bought the girls clothes, not a lot because they both felt like the girls would want to go shopping for their own clothes, just enough for a few days. They purchased the items and the store would deliver the furniture later in the day. Then they left for home in a good mood, happy that they had found everything they had needed. Now all they had left to do was get the children all this stuff was for.

"Daddy?" Parker said when they were in the car.

"What is it Bub?"

"When are 'da girl's gonna be here?"

"I don't know Bub, we hope sometime tomorrow. Before we can go get them we have to get permission from their lawyer, and we can't get in touch with him until his office opens on Monday." Booth explained while driving.

"Oh, I wish Monday would hurry up and get here." Booth and Bones shared a look and a smile when Parker said this. They were both happy that he was taking the news so well.

"Don't worry about it buddy. If all goes well they'll be here in time to pick you up from school when you get out tomorrow."

Booth, Bones, and Parker arrived at their house and spent the rest of the afternoon playing a board game with Parker. They couldn't do much in the girl's room until the furniture got there so they decided to just enjoy the time they had left as a three person family.

The time flew by and before they knew it a truck arrived from the store and unloaded the girl's new things. Parker decided that he didn't want to help set up the beds so he stayed in the living room and played his Wii while Booth and Bones tried to assemble two beds, two dresser's and two end tables before supper time. After much hard work and a little bit of arguing they had finished setting everything up, all they had left to do was roll out the rug and put the wall appliqués up on the wall.

"Hey Parker, come here for a second." Brennan called out.

"Coming." His reply was followed by the pitter patter of his feet on the hard wood floor and then him bursting through the door.

"Yes mama?" he said with a smile.

"Do you want to put the finishing touches on the room?" Parker nodded his head excitedly and Bones handed him the wall appliqués. "Just pull these off the paper and then stick them on the wall. They're like big stickers." Bones directed the child. He eagerly did as he was told, slapping the stickers around the room, one on each wall.

"Done!" He shouted. "Now it's all ready for them to come home."

Booth stood behind Bones and wrapped his arms around her middle. They stood there in the girl's room with Parker by their side all three imagining what it would be like for the girls to come home.

"I can't wait Bones. I just found out about them and I love them already. I want our family to be together." Booth said to Bones tightening his hold just a little bit, trying to bring her closer to him. She leaned back a little bit more and put her arms on Booths. Turning her head so she could look at him she said. "We will be soon Booth. Tomorrow, just one more day and we can all be together."


	5. Early Morning

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Five: Early Morning

"Booth, Booth." Brennan nudged her husband in the side trying to wake him up. "Booth, come on. We have to get Parker up and ready for school and we can work on getting the girls, but you need to get up." All her talking had done the job. Her husband was now awake and quietly grumbling about how nothing should ever happen before nine in the morning.

"Just get up Booth." Brennan said laughing. She left to go wake up her son. Walking down the short hallway and past the girl's room on her left she went into her son's room. Looking around she saw some of his toys laying on the floor and made a mental note to have him clean up his room after school she went to his bed. Kneeling down beside the head of the bed she looked at her son for a moment. He was beautiful, with his wavy blond hair and innocent face he looked like an angel.

Bones thought back to the first time she met this child. It was after one of her first cases with Booth. Rebecca had given him permission to take Parker, who was two years old at the time, for the weekend and Brennan was with him when he went to pick the child up from his mother's house. She had stayed in the car when Booth went up to the door of the ranch style house. He was afraid that Rebecca might change her mind about letting him take Parker if she saw Bones and got the wrong idea. She watched him walk up to the door as fast as he could before gently knocking. It took Rebecca a minute to answer and in that time Booth fidgeted quietly. Bones barely knew the man at the time and yet she could see that there was nothing more important to him than his child. Rebecca opened the door and passed the toddler into Booth's waiting arms. Bones watched him as he cradled the small child to his chest and carefully placed a kiss atop the boys head. Booth said goodbye and Rebecca shut the door. Booth walked slowly back to the car, savoring every moment with his son. When he reached the car he pulled open the door and gently sent the squirming child in the car seat. Brennan turned around in the passenger seat to get a better look at the little boy. She could easily see the family resemblance between this child and her partner. He had the same piercing eyes and the same charming smile.

"Hello" Brennan said. Although the boy was able to talk, and even form short sentences he bowed his head and bashfully stared at her from under his curly hair.

"Sorry Bones, he's just a little shy." He explained. Turning to the child he asked. "Parks, can you say 'hi' to Dr. Bones?" The child mumbled something that sounded like it could be hi, and Booth satisfied finished buckling the boy in shut the door and got in the driver's seat.

"He's a beautiful child Booth. You should he proud."

"Thank you, and I am. Every day he does something new and amazing. I thank God that he gave me such a blessing."

Snapping out of her reminiscing Bones gently woke up the sleeping boy.

"Parker. Hey Parker it's time to wake up. The sooner you get up the sooner you can go to school and the sooner the girls will get here." The second those words let her mouth Parker was up. He scrambled out of bed and started pulling shirts out of his dresser.

"Hey Mama. Did you mean it? We get the girls today?" He asked her still searching for his favorite t-shirt.

"Yes Parker I meant it. If everything goes as planned you should be able to see them when you get out of school." She went to the closet and pulled out the shirt he had been looking for. It was red with black letters proclaiming phrases such as "Man of Steel", "Hundreds Saved", and other front page headlines with a picture of Superman appearing to fly out of the front of the shirt. It had been given to him by Angela for his birthday, he loved it.

"Here's your shirt kiddo. Remember it's a school day today. You have to wear your uniform, just put this on under your polo." Bones said, throwing it to him. She then went to his chest of drawers and pulled out a pair of gray slacks and a pair of socks. Parker was taking off his pajama top so she put the pants and socks on the end of his bed.

"I'm going to go make breakfast Parker, when you're done here grab your backpack and come down to the kitchen okay?"

"K, mama." Bones left Parker's bedroom and walked to the kitchen where she started to prepare breakfast. On weekdays it was Bones' job to make breakfast which usually meant cereal. She took two ceramic bowls out of the cupboard for her and Booth and a plastic Superman bowl for Parker. She set them on the table and pulled the milk out of the fridge. Parker liked to have Lucky Charms, and Booth and Bones usually ate Raisin Bran so she grabbed the two boxes of cereal on her way back to the table.

"Booth hurry up. We have twenty minutes 'til we have to get Parker to school." Bones yelled down the hall.

"I'm coming Bones. Hold your horses." Booth said his voice getting louder as he came closer. "Look at what I found in the hallway. It's a little Superman." Bones looked over at him and saw he had Parker hanging over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. The boy was giggling at his father's antics.

"Daddy put me down. I gotta go get my backpack." Parker pleaded. Booth set him down and he raced off down the hall back to his room. Booth walked over to Bones and kissed her softly.

"Morning Temperance."

"Good morning Seeley." She murmured.

"Are you ready for today?"

"Yes. More than anything I just want to see them, to see how much Harper has grown and to finally meet Ember. Now that I have Parker and I know what it is like to love a child, I can't believe I was ever ok with letting someone else raise my children."

"Bones if you had said no back then Harper and Ember would never have been born. All that's in the past, all we can do now is move forward and make the rest of their childhood a happy one. We'll help them deal with the loss of the parents that raised them, and make sure that they know that we love them."

"I know, that's what I plan on doing."


	6. 1st and Amistad

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Six: 1st and Amistad

After Booth and Bones dropped Parker off at his private school they drove to the law offices of Turner and Boyd. They had called earlier and made an appointment with Mr. Boyd. The office was a big imposing building that sat ominously on a hill. They parked close to the building and walked in. Once Booth and Bones entered the building they were greeted by a strict looking secretary.

"Hello, do you have an appointment?"

"Yes, we're here to see Mr. Boyd concerning the Gable children." Bones told the woman. Booth and Bones stood in front of the secretary's desk and watched her pick up the phone and call her boss.

"Mr. Boyd? Your 9:15 is here….Yes sir. I'll send them right in." She hung up the phone and looked up at the couple. "You can go in. His office is the first one on the right." She pointed off to the side then forgot them to answered the ringing phone.

"Are you ready for this?" Booth asked Brennan.

"I think so." She reached out and took his hand in hers and they walked down the short hallway to Mr. Boyd's office. The door was open so they went in. When the lawyer saw them he stood and came around the desk to greet them properly.

"Hello Mr. Booth, Mrs. Brennan." He said shaking their outstretched hands as he said their names.

"Actually it's Agent Booth and Dr. Brennan but considering the situation you can call us Seeley and Temperance." Bones told the lawyer.

"In that case Temperance you may call me Robert. Take a seat, please. I know you two must be eager to see the girls so I'll try to make this go by as quickly as possible.

An hour later after a huge pile of paperwork and a quick briefing about the girls they were given the address, the corner of 1st and Amistad, where the children had been living in the week since their parents had died. Bones and Booth made it across town in record time because Booth had turned the siren on for part of the way. They pulled up to a nice looking house. It was two stories with a wraparound porch and the yard was littered with outdoor toys. As soon as Booth put the car in park they were both out and out their way up the sidewalk to the front door. Climbing the set of steps and walking the few feet from there to the door seemed to take forever. Brennan raised her hand and knocked firmly on the door. Soon after a kind looking older woman answered. She had a small boy perched on her hip and paint splattered on her top, she looked so comfortable in her home and the young boy seemed to like her. Brennan was happy that the girls had ended up with a woman like this in their short time in foster care.

"Oh hello, you must be the Booth's. The lawyer called me and said you would be coming by today. I bet you want to see Harper and Ember. Well come on in dears. Close the door behind you please. I'm Paula Finlay." The woman sounded as kind as she looked. They followed the woman into her house and looked around. It was clean aside from the toys and games that seemed to cover every square foot of the floor. She led them into a playroom of sorts and pointed to two children playing quietly on the other side of the room. Brennan recognized them immediately; she would know those faces anywhere. Harper looked like a mini version of herself only with blond hair and Ember looked like Harper did at her age. Bones turned and looked at her husband.

"It's them Booth. It's really them." Bones took Booth's hand and they made their way across the room, careful not to step on any of the toys. Unsure of how the children would act to their presence Booth and Bones kept about a foot in between them and the two little girls. They knelt down to be eye level with the children. Harper was the first to look at them. When she did, there was a flash of recognition in her eyes.

"Tempe?" Her voice was soft and melodic. Both children stopped the game they were playing to give their full attention to the two adults.

"How…how do you remember my name? You were just a baby the last time I saw you." Bones questioned the child.

"I had a picture of you in my room. My mommy said you were me and Emmy's bio-log-ick-al mommy. Are you here for me and Emmy?" The look on Harper's face was so earnest Bones felt her heard go out to the child.

"Yes, sweetie, we are. This is Booth, my husband. If it's ok with you and Ember we'd really like for you two to come live with us. We have a little boy named Parker and he is very excited to see you both." Bones told the two girls. The children shared a look, Ember the smaller one nodded and Harper turned back to face Booth and Bones.

"Okay. We'll come." Harper smiled shyly at the two. Bones opened her arms and the two small girls rushed to her for a hug. She tightened her hold around the two and looked over their heads to see Booth. He was smiling at her. It was a peaceful content smile, like he would be happy just to look at her and the children for the rest of his life.

"Bones we should get going. We only have an hour before we have to get Parker from school." Bones nodded and with reluctance stood. She picked Ember up and placed the toddler on her hip. Ember smiled at Bones and wrapped one arm around the anthropologist. Booth reached out his hand, offering it to Harper. She smiled at him and took hold. The four then said their goodbyes to Mrs. Finlay and the other children at the home. The new family made their way to the car so they could retrieve the last member of their group. Both adults made conversation with the children as they walked.

"Hi." Ember said.

"Hello Ember. Are you ready to get out of here and meet your new brother?" Bones asked.

"New brov'er?" Ember asked cocking her head to the side.

"Yes, Parker, he's five, he's going to very happy to meet you." Bones told Ember with a smile. Meanwhile Booth and Harper were having a talk of their own.

"You're Tempe's hus-paned?" Booth chuckled at the four year olds pronunciation of the word.

"Yes, Temperance and I were married just a little bit after your sister was born."

"What are me n Emmy 'posed to call you?"

"Well Temperance calls me Booth, and I call her Bones. My son calls me Daddy. My first name is Seeley so you can use that if you'd like. Whatever you two want to call me is okay with me." He wanted to make this as easy on the little girls as possible.

"Well I called my daddy, 'daddy' so I don't wanna use that." She looked apologetic, and Booth smiled gently to try and show her that he was fine with that. Harper was quiet for a moment and then she looked up at Booth. "How 'bout Papa Booth? It 'minds me of Papa Bear, you know? From 'dat story?" Booth grinned.

"That sounds great Goldilocks."

Thirty minutes later they arrived safely at Parker's school. After going through the security checks mandatory for all entries onto the school grounds, the family waited for the students to be released. After a few minutes the glass doors opened and Parker was the first child out. He stopped at the top of the stairs and looked around. He spotted his family and a huge grin spread across his face. Parker raced down the stairs and ran all the way to his family. He finally stopped a yard in front of them. Walking slowly closer he looked at the two girls. Booth and Bones stood back and waited to see what the three children would do.

"Hi" he said then he flashed the charm smile he learned from his father and the girls warmed up to him at once.

"Hi" they both said.

"I'm Parker."

"My names Harper and tis is Em'er." Harper introduced herself and her sister, pointing at the younger girl when she said her name.

"Do you like Superman?" Bones laughed quietly, only Parker would think that that was the most important question to ask. Harper looked stunned for a moment then grinned.

"Yes. You like Superman too? My daddy had all 'da movies and we watched them together." Harper looked sad when she mentioned her father.

"We have them all too, maybe we can watch one of them when we get home." Parker offered, looking to his parents for confirmation. Booth nodded.

"I think that's a great idea." Bones said while she didn't like the movie, after all a flying man just wasn't plausible she knew both Parker and Booth enjoyed it and having a movie night would give them all an opportunity to bond.

"Okay kids let's load up. Harper you get the middle, Parker the seat behind me, and Ember's car seat is behind Bones' seat." The older kids scrambled to arrange themselves accordingly. After they were seated Bones picked up Ember and buckled her into her new car seat. The adult got into the front seat. Before they pulled out Booth looked back and asked "everyone alright." After one yes and two nods they were on their way home. The kids spent the ride talking amongst themselves, and Booth and Bones used the time to talk about the kids.

"They seem to be getting along fairly well." Bones commented.

"Yeah, just give it a few day and they'll be fighting like cats and dogs." Booth said with a laugh.

"Is that a good thing?"

"Bones when they start fighting, that's when they start thinking of each other as family, that's a good thing."

"I see." Bones said skeptically.

"Come on, like you never fought with Russ."

"Well of course we fought, did you and Jared?"

"My dad… well you know he wasn't the nicest guy Bones. Jared and me, if we fought dad would get involved and that usually ended up with a lot of bruises. We still fought a lot but we didn't want dad to get mad at us so we always tried to be nice in front of him. I remember one time I was about nine and Jared musta been seven or eight. We had been fighting over this stupid toy car. Dad saw and got mad. I took the fall, told dad that is was all my fault. I ended up with a bloody nose and a broken arm. Later that night after I got home from the hospital I was laying in bed and I promised myself that I would never hurt my kids like that. I didn't want to be like my dad. I didn't want my kids to ever be afraid of me." Booth said staring straight ahead at the road. Bone reached over the center console separating the two of them. She placed her hand gently on his arm.

"Booth you are a great father." Bones said, putting as much love and truth into those words as she could. "Parker and now Harper and Ember are so lucky to have a dad like you. Parker loves you and I'm sure the girls will too." Soon after this unexpected emotional talk the family of five arrived home. Harper and Parker tumbled out of the car and raced up to the front door while Bones unbuckled Ember and placed the toddler on her hip. Booth unlocked the front door and they went inside.

"Harper, you wanna see your room?" Parker asked excitedly. "We made it special just for you and Emmy." Parker said using Harper's nickname for Ember. Harper looked up to Bones.

"Can I mama Tempe?" Bones nodded and set Ember down, taking the girls small hand instead.

"Do you want to see it too?" Brennan asked. Ember nodded and the group filed through the kitchen and down the hallway to the girls room.

"This is it." Parker said opening the door a small amount. "It's right across from mine." He pushed the door open farther and walked in. Harper gasped.

"Tis all is for us?" She looked at Bones and then Booth, searching for confirmation on their faces.

"Yeah Goldilocks. This is all for you two. Welcome home."


	7. Surrounded

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Seven: Surrounded

It had been two weeks since Booth and Bones had brought Harper and Ember home and the honeymoon period had long worn off. The first few days had been peaceful with both the girls and Parker on their best behaviors. That had lasted until Harper and Parker both wanted to play with the same toy, a Superman action figure, and neither of them could be persuaded to wait their turn, needless to say it didn't end well. Parker grabbed a leg and Harper an arm, and well it turns out Superman isn't quite as invincible as was previously thought. It had been about a week since then and the kids were really acting like a family now, going from fighting like cats and dogs one minute to hugging the next. Booth was planning on taking the three kids to the Jeffersonian to surprise their mom if he could ever get them out of bed. He went first to Parkers room and flipped the light switch, sending light throughout the Superman themed room. He walked over to his son's bed not bothering to quiet his footsteps, after all he was in the room to wake the boy up. He bent slightly over the bed, reaching down to shake the child's shoulder.

"Parks wake up. We're gonna go see mama at work, bub." Booth said, still slightly shaking the boys shoulder. When that didn't work he left the room for plan b. considering that the girls shared half Brennan's DNA it was no surprise that they were both morning people. In fact Booth was a little surprised that they weren't already up and out of bed. For the first week they lived with Booth and Bones they had showed up at the door of the master bedroom at four o clock in the morning every morning to wake both Bones and Booth up. Sweets had said that it was their way of testing the waters; he said the girls wanted to see how they would react. Booth and Bones didn't get mad but they both made it clear that the girls had to stay in their room until at least five thirty.

Today when he opened the door to their room he saw two sleeping children. Harper and Ember lay in the same bed, their blond hair splayed out together on the pillow. The girls looked so much like Tempe, mini Brennan's the both of them, Booth felt his heart expand at the sight of them like it did every time he looked at them. Harper was inquisitive, continually asking questions, and a very fast thinker. Nothing stumped her for long. Ember on the other hand was a watcher. She would sit and observe her surroundings taking everything in before she would do anything, assessing all her options before making a decision. Brennan already had the girls on the list to go to Parker's private school and Ember was only two. Parker was happy that next year Harper would join him at Woodbury, and Harper was excited too, although being Bones' daughter it wasn't surprising that she would be excited to learn. Booth knelt down by the head of the bed. He had found through years of experience with Parker that this was the safest place to be when trying to wake up a sleeping child. Well out of the way of flinging arms and flailing legs.

"Harps, Emmy. Girls wake up, we're gonna go see Bones." Neither one moved. "You can help me wake up your brother." That got them moving. Harper shot up and Ember opened her eyes. Harper was scrambling out of bed before Ember had even sat up. She paused on her way out the door to turn and give Booth and hug and a kiss.

"Hi Papa B." she said in her quiet calm voice, it was another trait she shared with her mother. No matter how excited she was her voice stayed calm. Booth grinned down at her and placed a kiss on the top of her head.

"Hey Goldilocks. Did you have good dreams?" It had become a ritual for them to ask this in the mornings. Usually all the kids had interesting dreams to report. Booth was just glad for the interaction, he was already preparing for the teenage years when his girls would think he was the most annoying father in the world and would not want to talk to him. Harper was about to answer his question about her dreams when Ember jumped off the bed and slammed into Booth's chest.

"Omf. Hello to you little one. How about you. Did you sleep well?" He grinned at the little girl.

"Mmhhm." Ember nodded, tucking her head into the crook of Booths neck. If only his colleagues at the FBI could see him now. They wouldn't believe it, Booth knelling on the hardwood floor smiling with a little girl in each arm. He stood keeping Ember in his arms and letting Harper stand. He went to the closet and picked out a change of clothes for the younger girl and pushed a stool over closer to the closet so Harper could pick out her own. She wouldn't let anyone do it for her and Booth and Bones were happy to let her be independent. Soon enough both girls had been changed out of their pajamas and into day clothes. Harper had dressed herself in blue jeans embroidered with small butterflies and a t-shirt Hodgins had given her that says Entomologist In Training. Booth had changed Ember into a black short sleeved shirt that proclaimed "Authors Rock" this one a gift from Angela, and a pair of boot cut blue jeans. Both girls wore Converse slip-ons. Ember wore a pink pair and Harper wore navy blue. With both the girls dressed and ready Booth thought it about time Parker was up.

"You two want to wake up your brother now?" Harper nodded yes so energetically he thought her head might just pop off. Ember on the other hand was content to stay in Booth's arms for a while longer.

"Ok, you go wake him up, tell him that we're gonna go see mama Bones at work so to get dressed before breakfast." Harper nodded again and raced off. Booth and Ember walked a little slower to the kitchen. Booth sat Ember in her booster chair at the table and started breakfast. Soon enough Harper came running down the hall, Parker tight on her heels, both of them giggling loudly. Booth looked Parker over, the boy had dressed himself in blue jeans and a gray and red striped t shirt, like his sisters he too had on Converse slip-ons only his were red. Harper ran to Booth throwing her arms around his waist.

"Papa!" She squealed still laughing. Booth pretended not to hear her and went on fixing breakfast. Parker was panting softly a few feet away, most likely trying to decide what revenge he should take on his sister for waking him up early on a weekend. Opting for the leave-it-for-now-and-make-her-spend-all-day-waiting-for-it-to-come form of revenge Parker went and sat down next to Ember at the table. Harper loosened her hold on Booth's waist and backed up a pace letting him go on making the breakfast. At Booth's insistence she went and sat at the table, choosing the farthest chair from Parker. Booth brought them their food, scrambled eggs and toast.

"Hurry up and eat kiddos. The sooner you're done the sooner we can go see your mama." Booth said as he placed Embers plate down in front of her and took a seat opposite Parker. The kids dug in and soon they were done and the family all piled into Booth's SUV on their way to the Jeffersonian.

Booth told the kids to keep quiet as they entered the Jeffersonian so they could surprise their mom. All the kids agreed that it was a good idea. Booth taught them how to sneak like a spy, which basically meant tiptoeing and pausing at every corner to glace around the edge before walking around it. The kids slowly snuck around the Jeffersonian climbing up the stairs of the platform only pausing for Booth to swipe his id card so they could pass the sensor without setting off the alarm. After he did that the three children forgot about trying to stay quiet, ran over to Bones, and pounced. Parker wrapped his arms around her waist. Harper did and the same on her other side. Ember walked right up to Bones and demanded that Brennan pick her up. Bones happily complied with the little girls demands reaching over the heads of her older children to pick up the toddler. She was smiling when she asked what they were doing there so early.

"We came to see you mama Bones" Parker said with a grin. "Daddy said we should be quiet so you wouldn't catch us sneaking up on you. Did we surprise you?" Booth knew she must have heard them coming a long time ago but he also knew she would humor the children. Booth looked at his family. Bones surrounded by little kids was an image that at one point in time he never thought he would see. He cherished the little moments like this.

"You did. I think you three will make superb FBI agents." Bones said.

"No mama! Not FBI, we're gonna be spies. Right Parks?" Harper said with a look to Parker.

"Yup spys." He said with a nod.

"Oh even better." Said Bones. She gently let Ember down on her feet. "Why don't you three go see Hodgins and Angela." The kids let out a whoop and raced off.

"Parker, watch your sisters. Hold Embers hand so she doesn't get lost." Bones yelled after the trio. Parker did as he was told backtracking a few paces to grab hold of Embers small hand before the three rounded the corner towards Angela's office. Bones turned to Booth with a concerned look on her face.

"OK as glad as I am to see you four, what's the real reason you're here?" Bones said, stepping closer to her husband. She placed her hands on his hips and looked up at his face.

"Caroline called. She said Rebecca's out and that she heard through the lawyer grapevine that Rebecca's coming here. She wants Parker."


	8. Lost and Insecure

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Eight: Lost and Insecure

Bones' face fell. She knew that Booth had another reason for bringing the kids to the Jeffersonian like he did but she would've never guessed the truth. Rebecca hadn't seen Parker in two years. Not since shortly after Booth and Bones were married. Bones still remembered the day they found out the truth about Rebecca.

_Screams can be heard coming from the backyard. A little boy's voice cuts through the afternoon air. It is July, it is hot, and Booth, Bones, and four year old Parker are in the backyard having the mother of all water gun fights. Parker has a gun nearly as big as he is. Bones has the exact same gun but it is much more proportionate to her body, Booth on the other hand had drawn the short stick. He is stuck with a small water pistol. Parker is crouching down behind the grill Booth had installed on the patio. He's waiting for Bones and Booth to come out of hiding. All the sudden his back is soaking wet. He lets out another sharp scream and turns around. His small arms pumping the super soaker as he turns blasting Bones full on with water. _

"_Ha ha! Gotcha!" The boy yells still pumping water tracking her with the stream as she tries to run away._

"_Hey no fair, I got you first." She yells as she tries to escape the flow of water. This is the most carefree she has been in a while. She and Booth had been married just a couple months before and she and Parker had yet to find a comfortable rhythm with each other. _

_She had known the little boy for years because she had been his father's partner since he was two but it was different now. It was one thing for the little boy to accept and love her as his father's partner; it was another thing entirely to love her as a step-mother. Bones understood why the child's opinion of her had changed so drastically but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. They were working it out though and it was days like this that were slowing helping them get back to having the closeness they once shared. Parker had finally run out of water when Booth jumped out from behind a tree. He started to spray the little boy sending him running to Bones so he could use her as a human shield. _

"_Mama Bones, help me!" Parker shouted as he dodged the spray of water and sled behind her. Immediately the water stopped. Booth looked at the boy in shock and Bones froze. Parker didn't seem to understand what he just said and Booth didn't want to make him uncomfortable so he kept on playing, this time the frivolity was a little forced. Both adults too busy replaying the child's words in their heads to concentrate on the game. Parker called her mama. _

_The game soon ended with all three players too tired to keep going. They collapsed on the outdoor sofa in a heap. Booth on one side, Bones leaning up against him, his arm around her shoulder and Parker on her lap. Booth laid his head back closing his eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face and his family in his arms. It was a perfect day. _

_The moment was broken by the shrill ringing of the telephone from inside the house. No one moved for a moment, wishing they could block out the world for a while longer. Alas it was not meant to be, the phone kept ringing. Booth disentangled himself and went inside to answer the phone. _

"_Booth." _

"_oh Cherie. It's Caroline. I have some bad news." Booth's heart dropped into his stomach._

"_What is it? Who died?" He asked in a panic._

"_No, no one's dead. It's Rebecca. She's in a bit of trouble. Do you remember the Clawson case she's been on?" Caroline paused, waiting for his answer._

"_Yeah, she mentioned it a couple times when I called to talk to Parker. Why, what about it?"_

"_She leaked a grand jury testimony to a paper." Caroline said without preamble. Booth was stunned. Why would she do that?_

"_Why would she do that? She knows how much trouble she can get into for it."_

"_I don't know Cherie. The media's been all over this case from the beginning. My only guess is that she thought she could get some pull with the reporter but I can't be sure. She's been arrested Booth. They're going to press charges. I don't think she can get out of this one. She's going to go to jail." _

_Booth and Caroline said goodbye and Booth was left to his thoughts. How do you tell a four year old his mommy's going to prison? So much for a perfect day._

That had been two years ago and the family had come a long way since then. They'd added two new members and were just about as close as any family could be, and now once again just when things where looking up the universe just had to throw them a curve ball. Rebecca had gone to prison on a sentence of two to five years and now she was out and wanting her son back. Booth didn't know what to do. Rebecca had been a good mother to Parker. Granted he didn't always approve of her choice of boyfriends, but overall she had been a good mother. The truth was Booth just didn't want to share his son. He had a real family now. Booth had gone the first four years of his sons' life seeing him only on the weekends and then nearly a full year without seeing Parker face to face at all when he was deployed. He finally had his son full time, he wasn't about to give that up now. When Rebecca was arrested she voluntarily severed her parental rights to Parker and let Booth and Bones have full custody, but Booth always had the feeling Rebecca had a backup plan, some way to get the boy back. Booth just hopes Rebecca doesn't put her plan into motion anytime soon.

"Booth, it's ok. We'll work it out. We won't lose Parker." Bones said, what she wanted to do was yell and scream and cry all at the same time. Parker was her son, even if she didn't give birth to him, he was hers. Her first child, the one who taught her how to be a mom. She couldn't lose him, not now, not ever. But she knew she couldn't be weak, she had to be strong for Booth and the girls and most importantly for Parker. If she cried Parker would get worried, she had to be brave, or at least put up a brave front so Parker won't see how worried she really was. Booth had needed to hear her say it; he needed her to tell him that they would be okay. Bones wrapped her arms around him, leaning her head on his shoulder, neither one saying anything more.

"How about we take the kids to the diner for breakfast? Can you take off work for a while?" Booth asked before letting Bones out of the hug. Bones nodded and they went to Angela's office to get the kids. Angela's office wasn't far from the platform, just around the corner and partway through a short hallway. It just took them a minute to walk there, if they had been paying closer attention they would've noticed that it was far too quiet. Three children plus a couple of high tech computers equals noise, lots of it, only there wasn't much noise here at all. But they didn't notice it, and they walked into Angela's office knocking unnecessarily on the door. Now they noticed something was wrong. Angela was working at her desk… alone. The children were nowhere to be seen.

"Ange?" Bones said, concern edging into her voice. "Where are the kids?"

Angela looked up from her desk. "What do you mean? I haven't seen the kids at all today. I didn't even know they were here." She quickly stood up from her seat and hurried over to the couple. "They can't have gotten far. I'll help you look." With a few parting instructions on where each person would search the three adults spilt up to find the three missing children.

Booth went to see Hodgins first knowing that if the kids weren't with Angela the only other person they'd want to be with would be Jack. He quickly found the other man and it was clear that there were no children with him. They too spilt up to cover even more ground looking for the lost kids.

Bones was going to the security station to ask for their help when she heard it, a small sniffling sound coming from behind a potted plant. She stopped in her tracks, spun to the right and bent down looking around the side of the pot. There sitting on the ground, her knees pulled up to her chest and her head on her knees was Harper.

"Oh thank goodness you're alright. Come here." Bones said. The child shook her head.

"Harper, come on, come out of there." Again the child shook her head.

"Why not?" Bones asked.

"Cause you'll hate me." Harper whispered.

"No I won't. I'll never hate you. Why would you think that?" Bones asked, sitting down on the floor by the little girl.

"Because I lost them." Bones heart stopped.

"What do you mean you lost them?" Bones asked. The little girl looked up, connecting eyes with the doctor.

"I was getting a drink from the water fountain and Parker and Ember went on ahead to go find Jack. I didn't take that long but they had got a lot ahead of me. I was running to catch up and I seen them talking to a lady. She all da sudden grabbed Parkers hand and started tuggin' on him. She kinda dragged him down the hallway to the exit, but Parker wouldn't let go of Ember. It made the lady mad. She yelled something that I couldn't hear and Parker shook his head and she yelled louder, but he kept hold of Ember. She got mad and tugged harder and pulled them out da door. Ember was starting ta cry but I didn't do nothing. I just stood there and let them be taken. It's my fault." Harper started to break down halfway through her confession. She sat on the floor crying and Bones just stopped doing anything. It was as if her mind refused to process the information she had received. Seconds later she snapped to attention, reaching out and pulling the little girl onto her lap. Bones wrapped her arms around the little girl and cradled the child's head to her shoulder.

"Shhhh, it'll be ok. We'll get Parker and Emmy back. I promise." She stroked Harpers hair as she spoke trying to calm the distraught child. Bones stood with the four year old in her arms and reached into her pocket for her cell. Fingering the buttons with one hand her other wrapped around the crying child she called Booth. It seemed to take forever for him to answer.

"Bones? Did you find them?" Booth asked, forgetting his usual greeting.

"Booth, I found Harper, meet me back at the platform." She said and hung up the phone. Bones was afraid if she heard his voice she would break down.

They hurried to the platform and when they arrived they saw Booth, Angela, and Hodgins all standing in a tight circle concern etched on each of their faces. Bones walked swiftly over to them. She kissed Harper on the forehead and handed her off to Angela who immediately took the child into her arms and continued comforting her. Hodgins took the hint that Booth and Bones needed a moment alone and went over to where Harper and Angela stood. Bones looked at Booth's face; he looked like he was in pain. She knew he wouldn't stay quiet for much longer so she started talking. She retold Harper's story to him and waiting for him to come to the same conclusion as she had. Rebecca had taken the children.


	9. Where Were You?

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Nine: Where Were You?

Bones told Booth all she knew about the kidnapping. She watched as the worry lines cleared on his face. She saw as he transformed from a scared father into one of the FBI's best agents. He took the cell phone out of his pocket and dialed.

"Booth? Seeley, talk to me." Bones said. She knew exactly what he was doing. He was worried out of his mind so he was pulling back, trying to keep his emotions locked up so he wouldn't break down. She knew what he was doing because she used to do the same whenever something was too hard to deal with.

Booth didn't reply to her plea. He just held a finger up, telling her to wait a minute.

"This is Special Agent Booth; I need a team sent over to the Jeffersonian Institute, and a BOLO on Rebecca Stinson. I want an Amber Alert sent out across DC and the neighboring states for Parker and Ember Booth. Parker is a six year old male, blonde hair and brown eyes. He is approximately three feet six inches tall and forty pounds. Ember is two year old female, blonde hair, blue eyes, two feet six inches tall and about twenty five pounds. There are updated pictures of both children on my desk, it's office number 1376. I want these kids found." Booth ended the call and looked at her.

"Ok now I can talk. What else did Harper say?"

"Nothing Booth, I told you everything."

"Where is she now?"

"I left her with Angela. I didn't think she needed to hear this all again." Booth nodded and then left to find Angela and Harper. Bones followed him to Angela's office and entered the room behind him, closing the door to give them a little privacy. Booth went straight to Harper. The little girl was sitting on Angela's lap crying, he picked her up and cuddled her to his body. He always amazed her on how easy it was for him to have so many roles. She had watched him be the worried father, the kick ass FBI agent and now the protective papa.

"Hey Goldilocks, don't cry, we'll get them back, I promise, me and Mama are working on finding them ok? Come on don't cry." Booth gently swayed back and forth while whispering calming words to get the little girl to settle down. It worked, Harper's crys lessened to sniffles and she laid her head on Booth's shoulder. Bones didn't want to disrupt the moment so she just stood back and watched. Booth looked at her and their eyes connected; he motioned with his head for her to come over. She was there in a flash and threw her arms around them both. Tears started to drip from Bones' eyes. Two of her children were missing and there wasn't anything she could do. She parted from the hug and pulled out her cell phone, maybe there was something she could do.

"Dad? It's Tempe. Parker and Ember were taken. It was Rebecca. About an hour ago. Because Harper saw it happen. No she's fine. Yes I am sure; I'm looking at her right now. OK we'll be here, we have to wait for the FBI to arrive. I'll tell him. Thanks Dad." She hung up the phone feeling a little bit better.

"Booth my dad says he'll start looking now. He's going to go by her old house and see if she's there, then that park she used to send Parker to. He said to call him if you think of anywhere she might take the kids."

"That's great Bones." Harper fell asleep on Booth's shoulder so he moved her to the couch so she would be more comfortable. "Do you mind if she stays in here for a while Angela?" Booth asked. Angela had been unusually quiet today; she didn't seem to know what to do anymore.

"Of course Booth, I'll watch her, don't worry. I promise I'll keep her safe this time. I'm so sorry I let this happen. I'm so sorry I let her take them." Angela broke down halfway through her confession. Brennan went to comfort her and Booth did the same.

"Oh Ange, don't say that. It was not your fault. This happened because Rebecca chose to do it. You didn't force her to do anything. You didn't even know the kids were here. If anyone besides Rebecca is at fault here it is me. I let them walk to your office alone. It's my fault."

"Bones stop it right now. It's neither one of your faults. Only Rebecca. She's the one who decided to take them. The kids have walked to Angela's office only plenty of times with no problems. Right now we need to concentrate on getting them back, not blaming each other." Booth said. At that moment a man entered the room. It was clear from his suit and the stern look on his face that he was FBI. He looked young, in his mid twenties, with blond hair and green eyes.

"Excuse me, Agent Booth? Hello I'm part of the taskforce you requested. I'd like to ask you and your wife a few questions about what happened earlier today." The young agent said. "I'm Agent Evans. Is there somewhere where we can talk?"

"Yes, my office is just down the hall. Follow me. Ange, you still got Harper?" Bones waited for Angela's nod and then took Booths hand in hers and gave it a squeeze. They showed the agent the way to her office and each took a seat. Booth and Bones on the sofa, the agent sat in Brennans swivel chair.

"Ok the sooner we get this over with the faster your kids get home. The Amber Alert went out soon after you called Agent Booth. Now you said you know who took them correct?"

"Yes it was Parker's biological mother. She recently was released from prison, and we knew she was coming back to the area. We thought she might want visitation with Parker but just after she was sentenced she gave us full custody so I wasn't too worried about that. I never expected her to do this." Booth told the agent.

"Umm hum, and where were you when they were taken?"


	10. You Found Me

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Ten: You Found Me

The Agent continued asking inane questions until Booth finally had enough.

"Okay, stop, just stop. My kids are missing are you're here questioning me and my wife. What the hell are you thinking? My little kids are gone and you're just sitting here. Go out and get them back!" Booth yelled at his fellow agent.

"I'm sorry Agent Booth. I can't imag…."

"No that's right. You can't imagine what I'm going through, but you know what you can do? You can get out there and find my kids, and put my ex back in jail where she belongs."

Parker knew who had taken him and his little sister. It was his old mommy. The one he had before he got Mama Bones. This mommy wasn't as nice. He didn't want to go with her but she grabbed him really hard and jerked his arm. He didn't let go of Emmy though, just like Mama Bones had said. She told him to hold his sister's hand, only now he was thinking maybe he should've let go, cuz then Emmy would be back at the Jeffersonian instead of in this stinky trailer with him. He was sitting on the floor of the trailer his old mommy had taken them too. Emmy was asleep, her head on Parkers lap. He was glad she had fell asleep because he didn't like it when she cried, and that was all she had been doing since his old mommy had taken them. Parker could hear his old mommy and her friend in the next room. They were trying to be quiet but the trailer was so small even whispers could be heard clearly on the other side of the home. He wanted to pay attention just in case he heard anything useful, after all that's what his dad would do.

"We can keep her too, she looks enough like Parker. They could pass as full siblings. Parker looks like me; no one will question us being a family once we get far enough away from here. I was thinking Wyoming or Kansas, some place like that. Seeley will think I'll go to my mothers, or maybe my sisters, he won't expect us to go somewhere I have no family" his old mommy whispered.

Parker didn't like what he was hearing. She was saying she was going to take Parker and Ember far away from D.C. but he didn't want to leave. His Daddy was here and so was Mama Bones, and Harper, and his friend Andrew, and the Jeffersonian, and his Uncle Jack and Aunt Angie. Everyone he loved lived here. That's when he knew he had to get out.

"Emmy! Emmy wake up!" Parker said, gently shaking his little sister. "Come on Emmy. We gotta go home." When he said that Ember woke up.

"Home?" She asked

"Yeah Emmy, we're gonna go home." He told the smaller child. Ember grinned for the first time since they had been taken. Parker helped Ember stand up. He took her little hand in his and led her to the door. The children looked out the plastic window on the door but they couldn't see much except the trailer next door.

"It's okay Emmy. We're going." Parker whispered. He gently opened the door, careful not to make a sound. The two children left the trailer, Parker remembering to shut the door quietly behind him. If they got lucky his old mommy and her friend would stay in the bedroom for a while and they would have time to get far away. Parker and Ember started running once the door was shut. They ran past trailer after trailer until finally they came to a street.

"Wilcox?" I don't know this street Parker thought to himself, but he didn't want to worry his sister so her turned right without another thought. They started running again. Soon they came to a bigger street, this time Parker led them parallel to the big road. He could see the big buildings in the distance, that was where his parents would be, in the city.

Parker and Ember ran and ran until they thought they thought they would drop from exhaustion, and then they ran some more.

Just when Parker was about to give up hope he saw a police car coming down the road towards them. He stopped running and started jumping up and down, waving his hands in the air. Ember followed his example and started jumping and screaming too.

"Over here! Help us" they yelled. The police car came closer and closer, and then it drove right past them. Parker started to cry, he turned around to watch the police car when it did something that surprised him. It turned around. Now the police car was on their side of the road, coming back towards them.

Parker started to laugh.

"Emmy we're saved. 'Dat cops gonna get us and take us to Mama and Daddy!" Parker told his little sister.

The police car pulled to a stop right in front of them. The cop rolled down his window.

"You kids need some help?" he asked.

"Yes! We got kidnapped by my old mommy. She took us from my new mama's work. 'Dis is my baby sister Ember, and I'm Parker Booth. Will you call my parents? Please?"

The cop was dumbfounded. He opened the door and climbed out of the cruiser.

"You two are the Booth kids that went missing this morning?" he asked.

"Yes!" Parker and Ember both shouted.

"Please will you take us to my Daddy's work, it's the FBI, or my Mama's? She works at the Jeffersonian, that's the really big museum." Parker asked him again. This time the cop acted a little more like what he expected.

"Well sure, umm yeah. I mean of course I will. Come on kids hop in. We'll be there in a jiffy." He said coming around the side of the police cruiser to open the door for them.

"Thanks for finding us mister." Parker said as the cop helped him into the car.

"What are you talking about kid? You found me." The cop said with a grin.


	11. Home

Disclaimer: I don't own Bones.

Title: Home

Author: ReadingRed

Chapter Eleven: Home

The police officer, whose name turned out to be Sam Waller, sped the entire way to the Jeffersonian. Parker was even allowed to be the one to turn the siren on for the ride. Sam was determined to get these kids home safely and as fast as possible.

Ember fell asleep in the backseat of the squad car. She was so relieved to be safe and on her way home she let herself fall asleep from exhaustion. Even though she was asleep held Parker's hand tight not wanting to let go of her brother until they were both home.

Parker was sitting on the edge of the car seat, straining against the seat belt, one hand reaching back to his sister. His eyes glued to the windows. He didn't want to miss the Jeffersonian. The police officer tried to talk to Parker a few times, but Parker wasn't interested. He just wanted to go home.

Harper sat in Angela's office, this time she had made it safely. Angela had given her a pad of paper and a box of markers for her to color with, but Harper wasn't interested. She just wanted Parker and Ember back safely and for them all to go home.

Booth was going stir crazy. The Special Agent who had been questioning him and Bones had left to talk to the rest of the squad. The Agent had told Booth to stay in Brennan's office. He had never been on to follow rules, but he also knew that if ever there were a time, it was now. If he left to look for his children and the agents found out, they would assume that it was he who had hurt them in the first place, and focus the investigation on tracking down Booth, and not the children. So Booth was left to pace back and forth, in Bones' office, praying all the while, that his kids would be home soon.

Bones sat behind her desk and watched Booth pacing. She wished she had the words to comfort him, but she knew there were none, after all she was going through the same thing, and she could think of nothing that would help her to hear. She looked at the pictures on her desk. Some were brand new, and some were quiet old. There was a picture of Bones and her mother, when Bones was just a child. Next to that picture was one of Booth and Bones on their first day as partners, Booth was towering over Bones, both were red in the face. Bones had her finger pointed at Booths face, and his hand was coming up to smack hers out of the way. Angela had taken it and given it to her the night before she married Booth. The picture after that one was of Bones holding Parker. The boy had been three when it was taken, he had his little arms wrapped around Bones' neck and both had huge smiles on their faces. The last picture on her desk was of her new family. Parker, Harper, and Ember, wearing matching Superman shirts were standing in front of their house. Booth and Bones stood behind the children; Booth with his hand on Parker's shoulder, Bones had a hand on Ember and Harper. They were all wearing big smiles. That picture was what Bones had come to think of as home. Not so much the house but the people in it. Three smiling kids, two parents to love them, it was perfect, and it was something, Bones wanted back. She wanted her kids to come home.

The police officer drove the thirty minute drive to the Jeffersonian, in only fifteen minutes thanks to his siren. He parked the car in a loading zone outside the Jeffersonian and raced around the side to open the doors for the children because the back of the squad car didn't have handles on the inside, to prevent criminals from escaping. He opened the door and the boy calmly climbed out. He had expected the child to out of the car and up the stairs in two seconds flat. Instead the child stood patiently while Sam pulled the sleeping girl out of the car and into his arms. Only then did Parker start sp the stairs, pacing the officer step for step, making sure he stayed in arm reach of his little sister. Sam smiled, it was nice to see a boy so devoted to making sure his sister was safe. Soon they reached the set of double doors that led into the Jeffersonian. Parker opened the door and held it for Sam and Ember.

"Dis is where my mama works." Parker said with a wave of his hands in the general area of the platform. "Her office is 'dis way." He said. They walked in and Parker led the way straight to his mothers' office. The doors and walls of the office were made of glass and as they got closer Sam could see and woman sitting behind a desk and a man pacing the floor. _Those must be the parents _he thought to himself. He saw the man look up and a expression of shock come over his face. The man turned to his wife the woman looked up, joy was the only word Sam could think of to describe her face. The woman bolted up out of her chair and as one the couple raced to the door. Opening it with a swish they came through and ran to Sam, Ember and Parker. For the first time since he had met the child, Parker left his sisters side. The little boy ran into his mother's arms. The woman picked the boy up and wrapped him in the biggest hug Sam had ever seen. The man hugged the boy and his wife, before turning to Sam and taking Ember from his arms and into his own.

"Thank you" the man said with tears in his eyes. The woman looked up from her childrens faces and caught the police officers gaze.

"Yes, thank you for bringing my children home."


End file.
